Numerous procedures are currently performed, or are under consideration, for both therapeutic and cosmetic (both aesthetic and reconstructive) purposes, including hair transplantation, hair removal, therapeutic and cosmetic injections, tattoo placement and removal, and various procedures in which energy is applied to a targeted area of a patient's body. For therapeutic or cosmetic skin and hair treatments, the energy is typically applied to cutaneous tissue regions, but may penetrate to some subcutaneous tissue regions. For example, lasers are currently used for numerous skin and hair procedures, such as hair removal, laser skin resurfacing for treating wrinkles, tattoo removal, nonablative skin treatment, and more. Generally, these procedures involve using a hand-held laser applicator. The type of laser utilized, and the physiological and/or chemical process involved varies depending on the type of procedure. However, the current systems for therapeutic and cosmetic application of laser and RF energy utilize manual techniques for positioning, aiming and operating the lasers. Treatments utilizing these manual techniques are often long and tedious. Moreover, because the laser or RF device is positioned and operated manually, the efficacy of such procedures may be operator dependent and thus, inconsistent.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,746 discloses a hair transplantation system utilizing a robot, including a robotic arm and a hair follicle introducer associated with the robotic arm. There is a need for further improvements in robotic hair transplantation as well as development of an automated (e.g., robotic) apparatus and method for performing other cosmetic, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including those involving the application of energy to a treatment area of a patient's body, especially procedures that require a precise location targeting and a large number of movements of the tool, such as energy delivery device.